Kay Bailey Hutchison asks Congress to pay military even if default happens

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, made an impassioned plea for military families Tuesday, asking the Senate to pass a new piece of legislation mandating that members of the military continue receiving their paychecks even if Washington cannot agree to raise the debt ceiling before next week.

Current law offers no guarantees that paychecks will continue to military personnel if Republicans and Democrats can not come together to avoid a default on Aug. 2. Hutchison’s Protecting Military Pay Act would ensure that active-duty servicemen are not left without pay.

“I am asking is that we take our military personnel out of any limbo,” she said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “My goodness, they’re making under $18,000 a year, some of these younger junior members of the enlisted corps,” Hutchison said. ” So I don’t think we ought to make them worry for ten seconds if they can pay their basic bills for their housing and the food for their families.”